RIGHT AFTER OBAMA DENIES APPEASING RUSSIA, PUTIN ANNOUNCES RUSSIA WON'T DEPLOY MISSILES NEAR POLAND AND CRITICIZES IRAN

TO ME IT SOUNDS LIKE OBAMA MADE A LOUSY QUID PRO QUO DEAL AND IS LYING ABOUT IT...

BBC:

The US president says his decision to shelve a missile defence plan was not dictated by Russian opposition.

"The Russians don't make determinations about what our defence posture is," Barack Obama told CBS television.

"If the by-product of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid... then that's a bonus," Mr Obama said.

US conservatives have criticised the decision to scrap the plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.

Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, had argued that the system was necessary to deal with potential threats from Iran.

NYTIMES/AP: Russia Says It Scraps Missile Plan

Russia said Saturday it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Washington has dumped a planned missile shield in Eastern Europe. It also harshly criticized Iran's president for new comments denying the Holocaust.

Neither move, however, represented ceding any significant ground. A plan to place Iskander missiles close to the Polish border was merely a threat. And while the Kremlin has previously criticized Tehran for questioning the reality of the Holocaust, Russian leaders have refused to back Western push for tougher sanctions against Iran.

Moscow said it was aimed against Russia, and has welcomed the US decision to abandon it.

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT OBAMA HAS TRADING AWAY SECURITY FOR OUR EASTERN EUROPEAN ALLIES AND IN RETURN.... GETTING NOTHING SIGNIFICANT IN RETURN FOR THE USA - OR OUR ALLIES.

IT WAS A BAD MOVE ON OBAMA'S PART...

UNLESS HE REALLY WANTS TO HURT OUR TRADITIONAL ALLIES - WHICH WOULD MAKES SENSE IF OBAMA IS A TRAITOR AND HIS ALLIES ARE OUR ENEMIES.

• PUTIN IS EITHER SEVEN MOVES AHEAD OF OBAMA (AND HIS NAIVE LEFTIST ADVISORS) ON THE CHESS BOARD, OR OBAMA AND PUTIN ARE OPERATING IN CONCERT.